The Republican journal., 1887-01-27
Folklore.
NO. 3.
CHILDHOOD.


superstitions, the snperstitons peculiar to it do
| not seem to he as numerous as those of some
other periods of life. Under the head of
''Folk-Lore of childhood might properly be
| considered an almost endless number of nursery
tales which seem to be the common property
of the children of nearly all countries and to
be of exceedingly ancient origin. For instance,
such familiar stories as ''Cinterilla," "Jack the
Jiant Killer" 'Beauty and the Beast are
said to be but comparatively modern transla-
tions of the myths and legends of the ancient
Aryan race. Leaving the discussion of this
branch of Folklore to those who are com
petent | will proceed to give some of the
peculiar customs and beliefs which | recall as
prevailing in my childhood days.
10 me no Juvenile fancy was so pleasing nor
more fully believed in than that which my
little mind pictured of Santa Claus, strength
| ened and made more pleasing, as it was, from
year to year by his Christmas visits. Child
hood robbed of its Santa Claus would lose
with which | relnquishe,i my belief in this
delightful fancy. The super>tiions kindred to
| Santa Claus and his annual visits are destined
to long continue the most popular belonging to
childhood. Another belief | recollect sharing
| in was that if one could reach the foot of a
rainbow they would find a pot of gold there.
| believe it now, but do not find the belief 50
| pleasing. ''Work together, live and love for
ever is saying common among children. In
my urchin days children used to attest the
truth of an assertion by crossing the fingers.
1t was believed if what they told was false
| they would lose the fingers crossed. Some
times the truth of the story would be cmpIa-
sized by repeating the couplet
| ''lIonest. true, black and blue.
| Lay ne down and cut me in two"
The belief that pointing at flower buds will
cause them to blight is quite general among
children. 1t used to be said, and. | think.
quite generally believed by the children, that if
they killed frogs their fathers cows would
| give bloody milk in consequence, but the
penalty was not sufficient to protect the poor
( frogs. When away from home we used to
determine whether or not our mothers wanted
us by pluckiny Il dandclion which had gone to
seed and blowing away the seeds. If they
were blown away at 4 certain number of pufl>
| of the breath, usually three, think we We're
not wanted, if any seeds remained we We're.
In England young ladies ascertain the length
| of time which must elapse before they will be
| married in like manner, the required number
| of pulls representing the time in years. Child
| ren hold a butter-cup blossom beneath the chin.
If it gives the skin Il yellow cast it is said to
| >iguify they are fond of butter.
| ''To have the petticoat> below the dress.
| Is sign the father loves you best.
| is a sayin. which has been common to the
children of many generations. | remember
| hearing these lines, with variations, in my
| boyhood:
| "Matthew, Mark. Luke and John.
Hold the horse that leap on.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
| Take stick and lay it on
| This bit Of nonsense is said to have been
written by the Puritans in riuc OF prayer
directed to the above mentioned saints. which
| is believed to have been in anon. the
| Roman Catholics before the reformation. 1t
is worthy of note that the universal evening
| prayer of the children of this country has the
exact ending of this relic of catholic times,
| VIZ:
| IF die before wake.
pray to God my soul to take
one often hears children repeat ON Il rainy
day the rhyme
| ''RaIn, rain 20 away,
| Come again another day.
as a charm to drive away the rain. This is
frequently rendered in other ways. one of the
most common of which is
Rain, rain. go to Spain.
| Fair weather come again.
This rhyme is said to be Of great antiquity.
We used to say when the first SHOW fell that
''old Nick was picking his geese which pre-
sumo is an American version of the rhyme
| which English children repeat when Il snow
| storm occurs there. They say:
| ''The men of the east
| Are picking their geese.
| And sending the feathers here away. here
| away.
| 1t is Il very common practice for children to
decide who shall lead in their games by one Of
| their number throwing a stick in the air.
| another catching it and then each @ra>ping it
| hand over hand. If the one who gets the last
hold can grasp ii firm enough to allow him to
| throw it over his mead he is to be the leader.
| A practice similar to this is common among
| the children of the British Isles. Another
mode of procedure common here is for one Of
| the party to point out each member in sue
ce>Son repeating as each individual is pointed
out word of this formula:
| ''Intra. mintra. cutra, corn,
| Apple seed. and apple thorn.
| Queba, qtloba. buck,
| Walk right straight out.
The one on whom the last word falls rctrc>
and the process is continued until only one of
| the numbe" is left. who is the successful one.
| There are numerous rcndcrinyS of this formula
which all ean probably call to mind. Another
which is doubtless familiar TO most of Your
readers runs as follows:
| ''Wire, brier, Timber lock,
| Nine mice in Il flock.
sit and sing over spring.
Out. ont and in again..
4 peculiar method of deciding by lot, which
| used to be common among children, was for
! two of them to each separate Il spire of grass
by pulling it apart at the joint, squeeze the
| Juice to the end of the stalk, then touch the
two drops together; the stalk which retains
the most of the juice decides who is the lucky
| person.
There is a notion which is said to be received
with implicit faith by English school children,
that if the masters cane is carefully ncked at
| the upper end and Il hair inserted it will as
soon As used split to the very tip. Let me say
| by way of parelrthesiS that the school boys ci
my day were firm believers in the notion that
if the stick with which they We're to be pun
ished was nicked at short intervals along its
whole length it would he likely to fall to pieces
! when used--a notion that was occasionally
put in practice, but not always with the
happiest results to the prime mover. Among
the school customs that have prevailed here
which ''are English, you know is that of
''barrine OUT the schoolmastc-. The practice
was common here a generation or less ago,
and has long been popular in England. Addi-
son was the leader of a proceeding of this sort
200 years ago. To this list might be added
numerous other peculiar customs which pre-
vail or have prevailed among the children of
this section, but the above may prove sufficient
to call them to the minds of your readers.
In my next | will speak of the superstitionS
and peculiar customs which have to do with
the most interesting affairs of life--lovc and
courtship.
At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts
Total Abstinence Society held recently in Bos-